TRADITIONAL ROMANIAN HOUSES RIMETEA VILLAGE, TRANSYLVANIA Location
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TRADITIONAL ROMANIAN HOUSES RIMETEA VILLAGE, TRANSYLVANIA Location Rimetea (originally Torockó in Hungarian) is unique due to its picturesque setting and its high quality architectural heritage. More than 65 per cent of the houses are traditional buildings surrounded by traditional barns and other ancillary buildings. They form traditional squares and rows. The village of Rimetea is situated within a narrow valley between the steep scarps of Buru Pass and Cheile Aiudului, and is located 25 to 30 kilometres from the towns of Turda and Aiud. To the south, the stark crags of the 1128-metre high Coltii Trascäului (Piatra Secuiului or Szekler's Rock) form a backdrop to the settlement. Rimetea, Alba county – Transylvania region, Romania Village type The land around Rimetea was iron rich, and the settlement’s development is linked to the extraction and processing of this metal. During the Medieval Period the iron mining and processing techniques employed in Rimetea were famous beyond the region. This led to a rise in the settlement’s socio- economic development.The settlement’s dual lifestyle in the 19th century, with the rapid urban development on the one hand and a strong connection to rural traditions on the other, is reflected in Rimetea’s architecture and form. Rimetea’s unified appearance and its celebrated high status 19th- century architecture contributes significantly to the area’s character. The 19th-century buildings frame all four sides of the village square and are decorated in a classicist manner in line with the taste of the local bourgeoisie. The large village square is rectangular in plan, and the regular arrangement of plots around this space suggests that the settlement's form was the result of a relatively short colonisation rather than a gradual organic development. PATRIMONIO URBANO Y PLANEAMIENTO | Grupo 5.01 | Curso 2016/2017 Anda Ariana Tutuianu Profesores: Daniel Navas Carrillo | Maria Teresa Pérez Cano Traditional house layout and materials The white buildings are one of the most important parts of Rimetea’s architectural heritage. The first of these Classicist bourgeois houses was constructed in the 1820’s. Most are built from stone. This material became more widespread as a construction material in the settlement after a fire in 1870 razed 40 properties. The white buildings’ layout preserves the traditional three cell linear form. This arrangement normally comprises a front room, a kitchen and a rear room. Sometimes the position of the kitchen and rear room is switched. Later extensions are also characteristic of this building type. Stone walls, 60-80cm thick, support timber boarded ceilings that are sometimes covered with plaster. Front rooms with vaulted ceilings are also common in this building type. Rooms also retain timber floorboards. The houses have half hipped roofs with tiled skirt, lime-washed front gables and interlocking or club tiles cover the roofs. An astral (star) decoration on the property’s gable-end signifies that the inhabitant’s are Protestant. Degradated facade where the constrution materials can be seen Stone wall The facades of the properties, particularly the proportions and decoration, provide this building type’s character. The cellar doors that face the street have arched, moulded limestone surrounds. Doors are constructed from timber panelling, hinged boards or wrought-iron sheets. The two vertical, or horizontal, rectangular cellar windows have wrought-iron grilles and exterior shutters. Lime-washed façades have two windows with dark green painted shutters and decorative framing on two or three sides, sometimes with segmental arches. Elevations are broken up horizontally with simple stringcourses and ornate cornices, occasionally with dentils. Fluted or rusticated pilasters with decorative capitals, arches and rustication, all made from plaster, decorate the spaces between the windows. Plain or geometrical glass is decorated with band courses. Above the windows, there are rich, traditional floral designs within semi-circular surrounds. These features are framed with scribed rectangular plaster motifs or curved mouldings that extend the whole width of the façade. Normally, a window-sized opening can be found in gables built from lime-washed bricks. PATRIMONIO URBANO Y PLANEAMIENTO | Grupo 5.01 | Curso 2016/2017 Anda Ariana Tutuianu Profesores: Daniel Navas Carrillo | Maria Teresa Pérez Cano Green window carpentry and shutters Also, a variety of ironmongery was produced in the village, for instance wrought-iron latches, handles, doorknobs, door-hinges, bolts, arrow-shaped window grilles and other iron fittings. Door-hingers Hydraulic hammer for metalworking Traditional house interior Rimetea village is also famous for furniture painting, dark green background painting with colorful flower motifs. All the furniture in the room considered "clean" were very well painted, and the room was adorned with various stitches specific to the area. Another symbolic element inside the house is the baking oven, which is located in the kitchen. Traditional baking oven Painted furniture – flower motifs on green backround PATRIMONIO URBANO Y PLANEAMIENTO | Grupo 5.01 | Curso 2016/2017 Anda Ariana Tutuianu Profesores: Daniel Navas Carrillo | Maria Teresa Pérez Cano Values 1. Value that derives from the uniquely preserved strongly homogeneous architectural ensemble built up of more than 200 traditional rural properties of existing 315 that contain more than 171 buildings with special architectural, historical and ethnographical value. The traditional buildings surround almost homogeneously the large main square of the settlement, plus there are a series of traditional rows of houses. The buildings forming ensembles are bounded due to their architecture and homogeneity, being of universal value because of the historic, social, ethnographic and scientific development that gave birth to them. 2. Architectural and urban value of the settlement structure organized according to a medieval pattern, conserved almost unchanged during more than 600 years that derives from the traditional plot arrangement and land use. The street structure, the arrangement of the main and ancillary buildings as well as the use of courtyards are a unique synthesis of multiple cultural, social and historical effects. 3. Value that derives from the individual architectural, historical, ethnographical character of Rimetea's historic buildings which were built by owners and local masters coming from different social groups in different historical times. These buildings exhibit unique vernacular architectural features, characteristic only to the ethnographical region of Rimetea and Coltesti, as local developments of general use of materials, structures and ornaments. The architectural value of the individual buildings is multiplied by the very rich ornamentation of elevations, carved stone elements, carved timber elements, elements with unique forms that are also exhibiting a specific development over a span of 400 years. 4. Ethnographical value deriving from the movable heritage that belongs to historic buildings, such as painted local furniture (unique and characteristic to the place), local embroidery, very special and ornate traditional costumes. Conclusion In conclusion, the traditional houses of Rimetea have architectural, historical and ethnographical patrimonial values. The elements that make these houses authentical and give them a certain authenticity are : the construction system using local materials and traditional techniques, the half hipped roof with tiled skirt, arched cellar doors, ornated facades, green wooden carpentry and shutters, the painted furniture with flower motifs on green backround, the ironmongery and the craftsmen together with their knowledge. In my opinion, all these elements that give authenticity to the houses should be protected and conserved. PATRIMONIO URBANO Y PLANEAMIENTO | Grupo 5.01 | Curso 2016/2017 Anda Ariana Tutuianu Profesores: Daniel Navas Carrillo | Maria Teresa Pérez Cano Resumen Rimetea (originalmente Torockó en húngaro) es único debido a su configuración pintoresca y su patrimonio arquitectónico de alta calidad. Más del 65% de las casas son edificios tradicionales rodeados de graneros tradicionales y otros edificios auxiliares. Se disponen formando cuadrados y filas. La tierra alrededor de Rimetea era rica en hierro, y el desarrollo del asentamiento está ligado a la extracción y procesamiento de este metal. Los edificios del siglo XIX enmarcan los cuatro lados de la plaza del pueblo y están decorados de manera clasicista, de acuerdo con el gusto de la burguesía local. Los edificios burgueses del siglo XIX y de los primeros años del siglo XX ,de estilo clásico y ecléctico son únicos por su geometría y estructura homogénea, la decoración variada y rica y por los elementos de hierro forjado como productos de la fabricación local. Estas características describen elocuentemente la prosperidad material y espiritual de la época. En conclusión, las casas tradicionales de Rimetea tienen valores patrimoniales arquitectónicos, históricos y etnográficos. Los elementos que hacen auténticas estas casas y le dan una cierta autenticidad son: el sistema de construcción con materiales locales y técnicas tradicionales, el techo de media caña con falda de azulejos, puertas de bodega arqueada, fachadas ornamentadas, carpintería de madera verde y persianas, los muebles pintados con motivos florales en un fondo verde, la ferretería y los artesanos junto con sus conocimientos. En mi opinión, todos estos elementos que dan autenticidad a las casas deben ser conservados y protegidos. Bibliografía The Transylvania Trust Heritage preservation, rural tourism and sustainable development - Arpad Furu Rimetea Village – unique in Romania and in the world - Andra Mihaela Cimpean http://whc.unesco.org http://www.transylvaniatrust.ro http://www.uncover-romania.com PATRIMONIO URBANO Y PLANEAMIENTO | Grupo 5.01 | Curso 2016/2017 Anda Ariana Tutuianu Profesores: Daniel Navas Carrillo | Maria Teresa Pérez Cano .